Atelier
Lady Julia

Introduction

As promised on previous posts from our “Creating Crocheted Jewellery” series, today we are finally showing our first example of a necklace created from simple and basic crochet chain stitch. It is merely illustrative. We are certainly not inviting you to merely copy this suggestion. We hope more than that. We expect this example will inspire you to create your own style. As you’ll see on next post, very simple, but different finishing details can change completely the look, style and interpretation of this precise necklace. So, as we said before, don’t be afraid to be creative and try new and different things, until you feel your necklace truly represents you and your lifestyle.

For now, we haven’t introduced beads yet and since we are using very thin wire, this particular jewellery is very light, which can be considered an advantage by some or an inconvenience by others. If you belong to the second group, don’t worry: beads and findings are all you need to give some weight to wire crocheted jewellery. We’ll introduce them later on this series.

Right now, we just intend to share the potential of the beautiful waved wire crocheted chain. So, we don’t want any heavy components changing or modelling the natural way it falls. Of course, if you decide to make a light wire crocheted chain necklace like this, you may have to choose the right occasions to wear it, as sometimes you may find it less appropriated (for instance if you’re going to run or dance). It depends on how comfortable each person feels with this light jewellery. Personally, I love it.

Work plan and organization

Materials

- 0,2 mm enamelled copper wire in different colours (we used red, pink, wine, bright violet and silver plated violet, but we encourage you to choose your favourite ones). You’ll find more information on these materials on the posts “ Wire hunting…,”, “ Where do I buy the wire to make crocheted jewellery? ” and “ What’s the best wire to start with? ”

- 30 cm of organza ribbon (with approximately 13mm width)

Tools

- A crochet hook (we used a 0,6mm crochet hook on this neckllace, but the 0,75mm we’ve advised on previous posts works perfectly too). You can read our directions concerning hooks here and here.

- A simple cutter

There is more information concerning tools available on the post “ What tools are necessary for wire crocheted jewellery? ”.

Techniques

- Crochet chain stitch

- Crochet slip stitch

If you need to learn these techniques, you’ll find instructions and video demonstrations on the posts “ Crochet basics : instructions and video tutorials to make chain stitch (with yarn and wire) ” and “ Crochet Basics : instructions and video tutorial to make slip stitch (sl st) ”.

Tips and Precautions

- Put your wire bobbins inside a can so they can spin more easily;

- Wrap your cutters with a rubber band, so they won’t cause any damages or accidents (on you or on the wire)

- Don’t undo your wire crochet, it damages the wire.

Step by step guide

Making the wire crocheted chains

Step 1:

Make a wire crochet chain between 2,80m and 3m for each colour (photo 1).

Leave a wire tail of at least 10 cm in the beginning of each chain (photo 2). If you’re working with five colours like us, make the chains with an ascending length, as exemplified:

• 2,80m for the first colour
• 2,85m for the second
• 2,90 for the third
• 2,95m for the fourth
• 3m for the fifth

If you need, you’ll find detailed instructions on chain stitch on post “ Crochet basics : instructions and video tutorials to make chain stitch (with yarn and wire) ”.

Step 2:

Close each chain as a ring by joining the ends with a slip stitch as showed on photos 3, 4 and 5.  More details on slip stitch available on post “ Crochet Basics : instructions and video tutorial to make slip stitch (sl st) ”.

Step 3:

To finish your work, enlarge the last loop on the hook, cut a wire end of about 10cm (photo 6) and slip it through that loop, tightening up the knot as shown (photo 7 and 8 ). More details on finishing a crochet chain here.

 

Step 4:

Tie both wire tails together twice (the one from the beginning and the one from the end of the work) (photo 9). Tighten the knot well and cut the remaining wire tails (photo 10).

Folding the chain rings in four

Step 5:

Fold each ring in order to get four strands of chain around your neck (photo 11).

Step 6:

Find the place where the wire finishing knot is on each chain and near to that place, tie the four strands of chain together using a little bit of thread or wool (something easy to cut or untie in the end) (photo 12, 13 and 14). You now have five sets of strands, one for each colour (photo 15).

Tying all the sets of strands together

Step 7:

Put each set of strands around your neck, starting by the longest and following a descendent order (photo 16). Use a mirror to help you arrange the necklace on your neck. Place the wool tails in the centre of your chest and use the organza ribbon to tie all the sets together (photo 17). The organza ribbon must hide the wire finishing knots of each chain ring. Take the necklace off and make a nice bow with the organza ribbon (photo 18). Finally, untie or cut the wool knots (photo 19).

Observations

There is no clasp on this necklace. Each chain is closed as a ring and must be long enough to allow you to wrap four strands around your neck and slip them easily through your head when you put or take the necklace off (photo 20). Having this in mind, adjust the chains lengths if necessary. 

That’s all! Your first wire crocheted necklace is ready! Do you like it? Did you face any difficulties to make it? Were our directions sufficiently clear? Let us know.

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Technorati Tags: bijutaria, bijuteria, colares, colliers, craft wire, crochée, Crochet, crocheted jewellery, jewellery making, necklaces
Tags: bijutaria, bijuteria, colares, colliers, craft wire, crochée, Crochet, crocheted jewellery, jewellery making, necklaces

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Related Articles:

• Another variation on “Wirefalls” necklace : once again a simple finishing idea for a different style
• “Wirefalls” necklace – version 2 : a variation using a simple finishing idea
• Crochet Basics : instructions and video tutorial to make slip stitch (sl st)
• Crochet basics : instructions and video tutorials to make chain stitch (with yarn and wire)
• Let’s grab our crochet hooks and start crocheting a beautiful jewellery collection

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 23rd, 2007 at 8.11 pm and is filed under Jewellery, Necklaces, Ideas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.